P'tit Quinquin

With an interesting premise... outstanding scenery....a great unknown ensemble cast.... a quirky almost perverse lead, this had soooo much potential to be entertaining. But NO... simply a waste of 3 1/2 hours as time after time a thread begins... a thought line is shared with premise and it is all for naught. Watched every minute. Gave it every chance to entertain and yet.... it fails on soooo many levels I was too stunned to even be angry that I hadn't quit in the first hour and a half. The esoteric hokum reviews written by supposed elitists who think there are messages here simply missed the joke. NOT trying to be mean....it was just THAT bad.

Some lovely scenery but it takes a long time to get into this film There are some very weird characters on display and I rather doubt that any British film company or Television broadcaster would have the courage to have made it. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to laugh at the characters or with them. It's now regarded as not being "PC" to laugh at the afflicted but it seems that's what is being asked to do. Some of the remarks regarding ethnic minorities are a trifle suspect; from a British point of view, that is. I can imagine Guardianistas getting in a flap about some remarks I'm still not sure what it was about but I still quite enjoyed it

This film is overly long and meandering, which is frustrating because too many scenes should be edited more carefully. Several scenes, like the funeral of Mme Lebleu, went on far too long. Also, there are too many unnecessary inserts into scenes. For example, in a restaurant in fourth episode, where the commandant is talking to a public official, there's a family with a disruptive son who is mentally handicapped. There is no reason for this family to be featured in this particular scene. This kind of fragmentation detracts from the already thin storyline. I don't recommend this film unless you have watched everything else and have plenty of time to waste.

The film is about a spoiled, racist brat surrounded by feckless, over-the-top incompetent adults. The adults are so beyond caricature in their incompetence that it utterly fails to be funny. It is ostensibly a black comedy, but the humour, for me at any rate, consistently fell flat. While it at least avoids the vulgarity of the very worst Hollywood comedies, they at least have the decency to be brief. This meanders pointlessly, with uninteresting subplots added seemingly for no reason other than padding. Also, jokes that weren't funny the first time are repeated again and again. Finally, none of the characters are particularly interesting nor sympathetic. For me, this quickly fell into "I don't care what happens to any of these people" and once that happens even murder utterly fails to be interesting.

Well, it's actually a TV series but I watched the whole thing in one sitting. My jaw dropped. This is not a film for the casual viewer. It is bewildering, full of unattractive people, many of of them with facial ticks, mental problems or just a plain ugliness. The themes are rich and deep, exploring so many aspects of human nature one loses count. The acting by seemingly first timers is first rate. It's reviewed mostly as a comedy but it's not laugh out loud kind of funny. Instead it's a satire on human nature, making one gulp with the truth of the telling. Take heed, don't watch this is you don't like squirming a little bit when faced with the naked truth. But if you're willing to invest yourself in this film, your time will not be for naught. It's not life changing but does make you think and most of all, feel.